I am T-8 days from vacation! I leave for London in one week + one day and I couldn’t be more excited. I feel like I have a lot to accomplish before I leave. This week I have been reflecting upon my last week of home, before I embarked on this amazing adventure and am thinking about how excited, nervous, worried, scared, happy I was.

I remember being so worried about packing. How was I going to live out of one suitcase for 8 weeks? And then I remember traveling and not understanding how people travel any other way. Having only one bag was amazing. Sure, I wore the same outfits day after day. I never really did my hair (nicely). I didn’t worry about whether or not my nails were chipped. I barely wore makeup. It just didn’t matter because I was having an amazing time and I was seeing beauty everyday and that is all I cared about. When I was traveling, I couldn’t imagine slipping back into my materialistic ways. I thought I wouldn’t care about makeup and clothes and packing carefully ever again. I honestly thought that. Then, I came to Dublin and slowly but surely my ways became me again. I started to wear makeup, I started doing my hair, I started wanting more clothes in my wardrobe. I started becoming materialistic again. And you know what? I am a bit scared to travel with only one bag. I honestly had a moment this week where I thought — can I fit everything in? And then I came around. Of course I can! I have done it before. I have loved it before! I just think it is so funny how easy it is to forget that you can do it!

Before I leave next week I need to:
– Pack!
– Go shopping for some basics: shampoo to fill my travel container with, etc.
– Get a few springy-items for the warm weather (I hope) we will encounter in Greece
– Do my nails (so they are niceat least in the beginning!)
– Organize and confirm all of our travel arrangements (+ print off flight itineraries, etc.)
– Book our hostels
– Get my hair done

Besides making lists of thing I need to accomplish, I have been thinking a lot about what it means to travel with another person. I traveled well on my own. I am an independent girl and I loved that I got to pick what I did. But I also know that I had the most fun when I made friends and we all did stuff together. I loved cities more because I created memories with other people. It was the experiences of the cities that made them, not the cities themselves.

I KNOW for certain that I am going to have an amazing 5 week traveling with one of my very best friends but I am also a tad bit worried. I have never traveled with someone for that period of time. I have traveled with friends for a week or two but never 5 whole weeks. Will we have enough to talk about? Will we annoy each other? Will we fight over stupid things (like…missed trains or what we want to see that day). I have never gone on a trip with someone and not had a disagreement (resulting in tears, anger or annoyance). Ashley and I have traveled together before (New York, Vegas, California and lots of mini trips) so I know we are going to have tons of fun. But I also worry, a tad bit, in the back of my head. I think that we will just need to both try to be calm, know that it is okay to have alone time if we need it, know that if we really want to see different things (and if we have limited time) that we can do separate things and it won’t kill us! So, I am going to let this go and not worry about “what ifs”. I know we are going to have a great time experiencing Europe together (uhh we are going to London, Italy and Greece…how could we not?) and that there will be hickups along the road but we have been friends for almost ten years and we have survived a lot together. Ashley has been an amazing and supportive friend and so many of my favorite memories include her.

Tomorrow, I will post our itinerary! I cannot wait to see more of Europe!